Whew, We dodged all the bullets again

Weeee! Fred the Cat coming at you and I’m one happy feline. Today marks the official end of hurricane season 2007. That’s not to say we couldn’t have one, but the chances are very slim. Whew, two years in a row that the Pops didn’t have to worry about everything that goes on when a hurricane is coming our way.

On another subject, you should have heard Pop talking about ducks when she found out that the cable company we have here wasn’t going to show the Cowboy/Packers game last night. She was saying, “Duck the NFL. Duck the cable companies. Duck it all.” She sure has a thing about “ducks”. But she was all smiles about the score of that game this morning.

Are you guys concerned about our endangered species? Do you worry about our fellow animals? Do you want to see what this “heck of a job, Brownie” administration did with the endangered species list? Read this and see if it makes you want to sharpen your claws on the couch.

Have a great weekend and share your cosmic catnip with a friend.

Sincerely,
Fred the Cat (the cat who loves you guys)

Is it yours? Want it back?

“This photo from the Florida Highway Patrol shows the approximately 60 pounds of marijuana found on Interstate 4. The FHP in a press release asks, "Anyone missing their bags of marijuana or knows how these bags made their way onto the interstate system is asked to contact the Florida Highway Patrol at 813-631-4020."
(Orlando Sentinel)

Now will some idiot actually call and claim it?

Virginia Republican? I swear!

So if you are a Republican in Virginia and you want to vote in the primaries, you must take an oath and swear to vote for a Republican.

Are you watching Iraqis? Are you watching democracy the new American way? Are you seeing how we do free and open elections?

Hell of an example the state of Virginia Republicans are setting for the world to see. Are they that desperate or are they that insane? Don’t they see how this looks?

(complete story here)

Questions from the home front

A quick couple of questions from the domestic side of life.

What the hell is that stuff that gathers on the top of my ceiling fan blades? Where does it come from and how the hell does it get up there and stay there with the fan going warp speed most of the time?

Where are the spiders that make the little webs that I find in the corners of my ceilings now and then. I see the little strands of web, but no spider. Where are those little rascals hiding?

Thanksgiving Games

I hope everyone had a safe and happy extended holiday weekend. We sure did.

I was at a Thanksgiving dinner with about ten conservative Republicans and three normal people. The war or politics was not mentioned. Probably a good thing since it kept my mouth shut. Some who were there have in the past described themselves as, “Good Republicans”. Make of that what you will.

The surprisingly good news is that I didn’t drop the F-bomb at the gathering this year. I accidentally did last year, much to my chagrin. Well, you know, stuff happens.

Mr. Pop knew there was no way in hell I could watch the Cowboys football game without strafing the place with F-bombs, so we had a deal that we would leave the gathering of the family pilgrims and be back at the hotel in time to watch my game. We did.

We took a big slice of walnut, cranberry upside down cake with us from the feast. We went back to the hotel, changed into comfy clothes, fixed cocktails and kicked back with our cake, our cocktails and my game. Life was sweet!

And no, we didn’t participate in the national sport of trying to see who could buy the most junk for the least amount of money on Black Friday. As much as the media hyped the event, we remained on the sanity bench and avoided all personal contact with the masses. Getting up in the middle of the night and standing in line to get into a store, sounds like hellacious punishment to me. No thanks, none for me!

National Eating Day

In a couple of hours we will be off to Tampa to spend Thanksgiving with Mr. Pop’s family. I will be the token pagan at the table on Thursday. But hey, they’ll feed me a good meal.

A few years ago I managed to overcome the ovarian desire to spend all Thanksgiving morning cooking enough food to feed the Partridge family. I’m southern, I just couldn’t help it. Since that time I haven’t missed the cooking-a-rama one bit. If someone else wants to do the cooking, that’s fine with me. Just let me smell the aromas.

Whatever your plans are for Thanksgiving, I wish you a happy time, lots of fun and a full tummy.

Sincere holiday wishes to each of you and your families,
From me, Mr Pop, Murphy the Dog and of course, Fred the Cat.

Happy National Eating Day to one and all!

(I wish I could credit the cartoon above, but I have no idea where it came from)

Sweet Madam Karma, she’s alive and well (con’t from yesterday)

I got out of the car and moved the vacuum. I walked from the garage into the kitchen. There was kitty litter all over the floor and it appeared to have been wet and then dried. There was cat hair all over the kitchen counters and little poofs of Murphy’s hair all over the carpet in the living room. I was pissed and horrified. If Fred the Cat’s hair was all over the place that meant he had the run of the house, something I had stressed to her that he must not do. He couldn’t be trusted around electrical wires, etc. When in the past Fred the Cat had been too rough with Murphy we had seen these little poofs of Murphy’s fur, but not like this and not this much.

I called the lady and asked her what had happened. She said the vacuum was in the garage because she forgot which bedroom she found it in. Ours is a three bedroom home so that sounded pretty lame to me. I asked why Fred the Cat had had the run of the house. She denied he did, even though the evidence was everywhere.

I realized I was getting nowhere with her so I just told her I would put her pay in an envelope under my doormat and she could pick it up at her convenience. I knew if I had to see her in person there was no telling what I was going to say to her. I just wanted this woman out of my life forever.

When we got our next phone bill seems she had made more than a few long distance calls on our number and we got the bill. Rather than get involved with her again we just paid the damned bills.

Now we come back to the present. Thursday morning of last week I woke up, stumbled into the kitchen, clicked on the coffee maker and turned on the TV to the local news. First thing I heard was the newscaster say, “A local pet sitter was arrested for grand theft and carrying a concealed weapon. Her name is ___ ___.” Yep, it was the same woman. Seems she had taken up the hobby of helping herself to some of her customers belongings while she was pet sitting their animals. Thank goodness, she didn’t do that when she was here. We never discovered anything missing.

For all the aggravation she caused me, for all the anger she caused me and for all the danger that woman may have caused my pets, Sweet Madam Karma, stepped in and with her magic she took care of this woman and her business too. I love the aroma of coffee and Karma on a Thursday morning.

Sweet Madam Karma, she’s alive and well

A few years ago I needed a pet sitter for three days and nights. A friend recommended a lady to me. I met the lady and we talked about all sorts of things. The lady spoke in detail about her obsession for neat and tidy surroundings and since I am somewhat of a neat freak this sounded great to me. She was hired.

The plan was, she was to come to the house two and if possible three times a day and stay for a couple of hours. During the time she was here, she was to feed and walk Murphy while at the same time giving Fred the Cat his food and letting him out of his room and onto the patio to run around. Fred the Cat had his litter box and water bowl in his room at all times. That was the plan but the outcome was different.

The morning we returned home we drove into our driveway and clicked the remote to open the garage door. As the door rose the first thing we saw was our vacuum cleaner sitting in the middle of the garage floor with its cord all tangled up. The vacuum should have been in our spare bedroom. This was my first hint that something just wasn’t right.

Tune in tomorrow and find out what was wrong and how Sweet Madam Karma performed her magic.

Fred the Cat gets Frisky

I don’t know what it says about me, but cool mornings make me frisky.

In south Florida waking up to temperatures in the mid to upper fifties makes me turn into a freakin’ frisky, Fred the Cat. I do crazy things like run laps around the patio just as fast as I can. Don’t even think about trying to catch me either.

My favorite frisky thing to do is to quickly run up behind Pop, stand up on my back legs, wrap my front paws around her leg and pretend I’m going to bite her. Just as she feels my teeth I take off and run more laps. No matter how many times I do it, it gives her a start every time. Now that’s some feline fun. And yes, sometimes when I do it she starts talking about “ducks” again.

Pop is super frisky today and it has nothing to do with cooler weather, it has to do with Madam Karma. I’ll let her tell you about it Monday. It’s a good story because I’m in it.

Is it just me or does the cool weather make you feel a little frisky too?

Have a great weekend and watch that friskiness

Sincerely,
Fred the Cat (the cat who loves you guys)

Ironic to say the least

Musharraf says he can’t have fair and open elections unless he keeps Pakistan under Martial Law. He said, “The emergency is to ensure elections go in an undisturbed manner.”
(quote source)

So you jail everyone who disagrees with you and prohibit campaigning and the result is a fair election? How many things are wrong with that picture?

Meanwhile our government is spending time and money tapping all your mundane phone calls and at the same time one of their own is tapping into the secret information of the CIA and FBI on behalf of Hezbollah.
(article source)

It is indeed a strange world we live in today.

It’s time to ponder the question again

We are beginning to hear the yearly question, who will be Time Magazine’s person of the year. I suggest strongly that it be Al Gore. He brought the world’s attention to and focused it on global warming as no one else has.

Got your own idea? Let’s hear it.

An Unexpected Surprise

Part of our weekday morning routine here at the Pop homestead is our telling Mr. Pop goodbye as he leaves for work. Since Murphy the dog has a bit of a memory problem he has to see Mr. Pop get in his truck as he leaves. If Murphy doesn’t see this, he spends the whole day looking around the house trying to find Mr. Pop.

So yesterday morning I hooked Murphy’s leash to his collar and outside we went. We, Murphy and I, were watching as Mr. Pop loaded his briefcase and gym bag into the truck. Mr. Pop looked toward the sky and said, “Look!”. I looked up to see a very large bird flying our way. At first I thought it was just a vulture flying very low, but as it flew over our yard I realized what we were seeing. It was an bald eagle.

Because it was flying so low there was no doubt of it’s identity. The white head and white tail were very easy to see.

We know there are bald eagles not too many miles from here, but having one fly over our yard and grace us with its beauty was a totally unexpected surprise and one wonderful way to start any day.

What about the other stuff?

We’ve all heard about the recall of tainted and toxic toys made in China. I want to ask some questions about this problem. Is anyone checking things like pet toys that are made in China? How about things made in China that are used by adults?

I’m talking about things that might be found in our kitchens, bathrooms or anywhere in our homes. For example, are we eating from plastic utensils or plates made over there? What’s in those products and are they safe?

Fred the Cat talks about Heaven

Looks to me like some people spend all their life figuring out how they can go to heaven when they die. They try to do all the right things, talk to the right people and follow what they believe to be the right rules.

I don’t even know what or where heaven is located. Some say it’s up in the sky. I guess it’s higher than the space shuttle travels or we would spotted it by now. I hear it’s a place where everything is peaceful and perfect. I don’t even know if they allow pets there.

Here’s a feline point of view and probably Pop’s point of view too. Instead of spending one’s entire life planning on going to an unknown place when one dies, why not spend one’s life enjoying what we do know and have? We have no proof of this “heaven” place but we sure as hell know what our earth is like. Why not spend our time enjoying nature and protecting our earth? That way, when you die, you leave something better for those who come along after you.

If there is a heaven and if you do go there after you die, then hell, that’s just an extra bonus.

As a cat, I’m not betting on anything after death, I’m just going to enjoy the hell out of my life. All I need is a full tummy, some Cosmic Catnip, a cozy place to snooze and humans who love the hell out of me. Ahh, that’s living! That’s my kind of heaven and it’s on earth, right here, right now.

Have a great weekend and make someone smile if you can.

Sincerely,
Fred the Cat (the cat who loves you guys)

Separate Church and State? I guess it Depends

So Pat Robertson has endorsed Rudy. What the hell do you make of that?

How’s this going to go over with the moderate Republicans and Independents?

On the same day that one of the Christian Right Evangelicals endorsed a presidential candidate, we heard that Senator Grassley is looking into the big evangelical ministries to see how they are spending their donations. These ministries are crying foul and saying there should be a separation of church and state. The government shouldn’t be nosing into their church finances.

Of course these same people want to have as much religious influence in our government as they can possibly get.

Could we live without credit cards? Maybe we should.

We all know that during this most recent “housing boom” a lot of people got mortgages they couldn’t afford. How dastardly that that was allowed to happen. Was it the first time people got credit they couldn’t afford? I don’t think so.

I think when the idea of issuing credit cards was created, that was another time when people began to run up debts they couldn’t afford. I think that’s when “stuff” became too easy to buy. Trouble is, it continues and people continue to see debt as just a fact of life.

Suppose there were no credit cards, could places like Wal-Mart stay in business? I’m just curious about that. I don’t know.

This holiday season with gas prices going up and up, with many families paying mortgage payments they really can’t afford, will they cut back on spending or will they just add to their debt by swiping that card into the machine?

Vote for a Republican? Why?

I can’t understand why Fred Thompson is still in the race. I watched him as he was interviewed on Meet the Press and he’s about as shallow as Rudy and Mitt combined. How the hell did he even get this far? Once you peel off the “actor” role, there’s nothing there.

I think Rudy is running because he just wants the prestige of the office. He and Mitt are clamoring over who would attack Iran hardest, use the most torture and place the most people at Guantanamo. In other words they want to be even more insane than the insane person we have in the oval office today.

Is the use of torture the new value for “values voters”? Forget fighting against gay marriage and abortions, now they would appear to be fighting for the use of torture. Go figure. I’d like to see them try to back this up with scripture from the Bible.

So bottom line, why would anyone vote for Thompson, Rudy or Mitt? Seems to me it would be like rubbing salt into the wound that is our country today.

A Problem or a Plan?

Do you think bush is worried about what Musharraf has done in Pakistan, or is he taking notes to use about a year from now?

I’m trying to figure out what if anything the US can do to stop Musharraf, or are they secretly supporting his actions.

There’s something so eerie about this. I’m not into tin foil hats but just the fact that I’m thinking this way frightens me.

According to what I heard on the Sunday morning talk shows, if Musharraf doesn’t end this quickly, this could be a deadly serious situation. If Pakistan’s radicals get their hands on the nuclear devices in that country all hell could become real.

In Solidarity

In solidarity with Pop and her sore paw, I too will keep my post short.

She’s had a tough week. She’s been hurting and frustrated too. Seems most humans only know how to use one front paw successfully when it comes to doing stuff. I did my best to make it easy on her. I decided not to trip her up, not once. I was curious about the bandage on her hand but decided it wouldn’t be wise to bite it or scratch at it. I’m so glad she isn’t required to scratch around in a litter box like I do. I’m guessing she couldn’t do that this week.

Too bad that humans don’t take as good care of themselves as they do us felines and the canines. Pop would never allow me to stick my paw in an area where I might get hurt, but she allowed herself to do it. She says what she did was kinda dumb. Did you or your human ever do anything kinda dumb? Did anyone get hurt? I hope not.

Pop said to tell you guys that by Monday she thinks she will be able to type with both paws. She’ll be ready to rock and roll.

Have a great weekend and protect your paws from harm

Sincerely,
Fred the Cat (the cat who loves you guys)

Someone ‘splain this to me

Immunity for telecoms?
Immunity for Blackwater?
Why would so many need immunity if no one did anything wrong?


Halloween Update.
Due to rain last night we had a total of five trick or treaters. As a result, I am stuck with a ton-o-candy. Bummer!